OK here goes. First, Those who know me will tell you that I will never try to hurt someone, try to get along with everyone I meet, and do my best to see the good in everyone and every thing. This being said, know that you should not read anything in this post as being a flame or pointed.
Now, I believe that all the peolple that I know that have posted care a great deal about making percussion in Calontir better. The differences are in each of our visions, understandings, backgrounds and our abillities to both explain our vision and see oneanothers. I believe we are all seeing a similar end result. The idea is that if you tell a group of people to imagine eating an apple, each individual will more than likely be thinking of a different apple with different tastes, some peeled, chopped, red, green... but they are all apples. The way you concive it is based on your history and the events that shaped YOUR life and your tastes. This is evident in Emeras post concerning African dance. Her experience changed the way she viewed the dance. She saw what it looked like when done well. I think many people dont understand what really good ensemble playing can be like. I know everyone has heard it, but you must remember that not everyone really knows how to trully listen and understand like those with training or those with a natural gift for listening. I have to admit that I dont trully understand ensemble playing (NO REALLY), and for alot of people what they dont understand can scare them to a certain degree. I have always tried to be one to take critisism and learn from it, but one thing I have learned is that many people will push against you if they feel critisised or even slightly challenged.
I understand the frustration with cowboys and large percussion or "seasoned Veterans" from pensic circles that let you bask in there glow. It is your desision to play or not and you should not be faulted for not playing. Sometimes I feel faulted by others because I wasnt able to make a certain circle. The worst way to try to get someone to your party is to greet them with "where the hell were you". Sometimes there just is not enough to go around, especially with a 2 year old!
Mid-Post reminder: This post is not intended to flame or poke anyone!!!
One thing that I have learned is that a great deal of strife in this world is caused by lack or breakdown or missunderstanding of communication. I dont communicate well through the written word and get missunderstood often in emails and this explains why I dont email much. I would really like for us to all be able to get together in the spring at an event or for a weekend at Xaviars place or wherever for some discussion and practice with tecnique, ensemble theory and application, comminication between drummer and drummer and dancers, practical application in the evening and.... It could be the begining of a kind of midwest ME music and dance camp.
What do you think,
Nakano
Now, I believe that all the peolple that I know that have posted care a great deal about making percussion in Calontir better. The differences are in each of our visions, understandings, backgrounds and our abillities to both explain our vision and see oneanothers. I believe we are all seeing a similar end result. The idea is that if you tell a group of people to imagine eating an apple, each individual will more than likely be thinking of a different apple with different tastes, some peeled, chopped, red, green... but they are all apples. The way you concive it is based on your history and the events that shaped YOUR life and your tastes. This is evident in Emeras post concerning African dance. Her experience changed the way she viewed the dance. She saw what it looked like when done well. I think many people dont understand what really good ensemble playing can be like. I know everyone has heard it, but you must remember that not everyone really knows how to trully listen and understand like those with training or those with a natural gift for listening. I have to admit that I dont trully understand ensemble playing (NO REALLY), and for alot of people what they dont understand can scare them to a certain degree. I have always tried to be one to take critisism and learn from it, but one thing I have learned is that many people will push against you if they feel critisised or even slightly challenged.
I understand the frustration with cowboys and large percussion or "seasoned Veterans" from pensic circles that let you bask in there glow. It is your desision to play or not and you should not be faulted for not playing. Sometimes I feel faulted by others because I wasnt able to make a certain circle. The worst way to try to get someone to your party is to greet them with "where the hell were you". Sometimes there just is not enough to go around, especially with a 2 year old!
Mid-Post reminder: This post is not intended to flame or poke anyone!!!
One thing that I have learned is that a great deal of strife in this world is caused by lack or breakdown or missunderstanding of communication. I dont communicate well through the written word and get missunderstood often in emails and this explains why I dont email much. I would really like for us to all be able to get together in the spring at an event or for a weekend at Xaviars place or wherever for some discussion and practice with tecnique, ensemble theory and application, comminication between drummer and drummer and dancers, practical application in the evening and.... It could be the begining of a kind of midwest ME music and dance camp.
What do you think,
Nakano
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Iowa
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Re: My point of view
Tue, November 14, 2006 - 7:34 AMYou touched on an important point, I think, when you described the "Where the hell were you?" scenario. That points to an underlying assumption in the community that I find disturbing--the notion that an instructor or better player has an obligation to show up and play, without regard to anything else. For some odd reason, folks assume that instructors aren't allowed to do what they find enjoyable and not do something if they don't find it enjoyable.
Everybody--and that means everybody--has the prerogative to stop playing if a circle ceases to be fun. There is no single standard of what constitutes fun, either, so my standards and yours don't match, the same as yours and Majnun's don't match and so on--nor should they. If you think it more fun to be playing with Sam or casting metal or whatever instead of playing in an open circle, it's simply rude for anybody to gripe about it.
As for the cowboys, they're only cowboys if they're oblivious to what's going on around them and how they're not fitting in. As I said, if you show up with a big, honkin' drum, I won't bat an eyelash because I know you'll be able to fit it in. A newbie shows up with a poorly-tuned djembe (djembes are supposed to be tuned high) and I'll look askance. That alone doesn't make him a cowboy, though, because he can still play it and fit in. If he isn't fitting in and can't heed suggestions as to how to fit in, then he's a cowboy and I don't see how anybody would want to continue playing in that context.
And, one more time, I'm happy to help folks fit in. I'm just not going to assume that it's my place to direct an open circle. I'll suggest some things to try if I have no reason to believe the player doesn't care about fitting in. At signs of a lack of caring, though, it's clear to me that I should be somewhere else doing something that's more enjoyable than dodging debris in a train wreck.
And the weekend workshop idea sounds just grand! -
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Re: My point of view
Tue, November 14, 2006 - 3:47 PMCowboy.....what cowboy? Big honkin' drum...uhh.....but it's got a tamborine inside!!!!
All the respect in the world for you Nakano. I usually don't even carry my drum anymore....I got a bit burnt out on it because everytime I showed up anywhere, all people wanted me to do was drum, and they started to act offended or dissapointed if I didn't want to. I've been soooo happy since moving here from Ansteorra to find good drums when I am not playing. The few times that I've picked up and played have been because I wanted to, and I've totally enjoyed it (hopefully I haven't offended anyone with my loud banging noises :). I don't want drumming to be "work" for me, and the bottom line is that I have too much fun socializing to play all the time. That being so, I really enjoy learning new stuff and playing with you all.
For those who don't know me yet...I'm Anton. First post here. I've been lurking and reading a bit. I'm by no means any sort of instructor or expert. I can play well enough to not screw a circle up...most of the time. I look forward to playing more in Calontir. I'm all about sitting around and learning new stuff....especially since most of the classes happen when I'm in armor.
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